“Girls Just Wanna Have Fun(damental) Human Rights:” How the Women’s Convention and Belgium combat Gender Stereotypes
Abstract
To put it simply, the purpose of the Women’s Convention is to end discrimination on the basis of sex. The inclusion of Article 5, paragraph (a), which focuses on fixed gender roles that get in the way of that goal, provides one of the ways in which they aim to do so. State parties cannot hide behind their respective traditions or customs as to why the realisation of International Human Rights ultimately depends on gender. A question that arises is what does this mean for States in terms of concrete obligations. This article aims to provide an answer to that question by exploring Article 5 (a) and the notion of extra-legal measures, in particular. Equally, it will take a closer look at how one of the State parties, namely Belgium, is doing in this regard both in theory as in practice. By conducting literary research it becomes apparent that State parties have to adopt national laws and/or instruments. Furthermore, they have to incorporate extra-legal measures as well. Meaning, they should incorporate measures to influence the mindsets of people regarding gender equality through means such as education, the media and public information projects, for instance. Although Belgium continues to struggle with effective implementation of its laws and policies due to its inherent complex institutional structure. It can still be said that its well on its way to combat gender inequality in light of Article 5 (a). Ultimately, Article 5 (a) brings meaning to every right in the Women’s Convention. Considering, that it is only when gender equality is reached both before the law and in practice that women will be able to enjoy Human Rights.
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References
Book
Biholar, Ramona. Transforming Discriminatory Seks Roles and Gender Stereotyping, Cambridge: Intersentia, 2013.
Chapter in Book
Janssens, Y. “Sex-role stereotyping and sex discrimination regulation in advertising: the belgian case” in Gender in focus: (new) trends in media, edited by C. Cerqueira, R. Cabecinhas & S. I. Magalhães, 85-101. Edmonton: CESC- Centro de Estudos de Comunicacāo e Sociedade Universidade do Minho, Braga Portugal, 2016.
Lijnzaad, E. “Over rollenpatronen en de rol van het Verdrag” in Het Vrouwenverdrag: een beeld van een verdrag…, edited by A.W. Heringa, J. Hes, L. Lijnzaad, 43-57. Antwerpen-Apeldoorn: MAKLU Uitgevers, 1994.
Westendorp, Ingrid. “Using culture to achieve equality” in The Women’s Convention turned 30, edited by Ingrid Westendorp, 111-132. Cambridge: Intersentia, 2012.
Journal Article
Baldez, Lisa. "The UN Convention to Eliminate All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW): A new way to measure women's interests." Politics & Gender 7, no. 3 (2011): 419-423. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1743923X11000183
Caglar, Gülay. "Gender mainstreaming." Politics & Gender 9, no. 3 (2013): 336-344. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1743923X13000214
Den Boer, Andrea.; Hudson, Valerie. “Patrilineality, Son Preference, and Sex Selection in South Korea and Vietnam,” Population and Development Review 43, no. 1 (2017):119-147.
Eagly, Alice H., and Sabine Sczesny. "Gender Roles in the Future? Theoretical Foundations and Future Research Directions." Frontiers in psychology 10 (2019). https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2019.01965
Hentschel, Tanja, Madeline E. Heilman, and Claudia V. Peus. "The multiple dimensions of gender stereotypes: a current look at men’s and women’s characterizations of others and themselves." Frontiers in psychology 10 (2019). https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2019.00011
Hodson, Loveday. "Women’s rights and the periphery: CEDAW’s optional protocol." European Journal of International Law 25, no. 2 (2014): 561-578. https://doi.org/10.1093/ejil/chu027
Sepper, Elizabeth. “Confronting The “Sacred and Unchangeable”: The Obligation to Modify Cultural Patterns Under The Women’s Discrimination Treaty.” University of Pennsylvania Journal of International Law 30, no. 2 (2008): 585-639.
Legal Documents
Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, General Assembly Resolution 39/46, 10 December 1984
Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, General Assembly Resolution 34/180, 18 December 1979.
International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, General Assembly Resolution 2200A (XXI), 16 December 1966.
International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, General Assembly Resolution 2200 (XXI), 16 December 1966.
UN Doc. A/RES/48/104, Declaration on the Elimination of Violence against Women, 20 december 1993.
Universal Declaration of Human Rights, General Assembly Resolution 217 A, 10 December 1948
12 JANUARI 2007. - Wet strekkende tot controle op de toepassing van de resoluties van de wereldvrouwenconferentie die in september 1995 in Peking heeft plaatsgehad en tot integratie van de genderdimensie in het geheel van de federale beleidslijnen.
Framework Decree on equal opportunities and equal treatment policy of 10 July 2008 (B.M 23 September 2008)
Decree of 12 December 2008 on the fight against certain forms of discrimination (B.M. of 13 January 2009)
Decree, concerning the fight against certain forms of discrimination 6 November 2008 (B.M. 19 December 2008)
Other Documents
A/CONF.177/20: Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action, 1995.
CCPR/C/21, General Recommendation No.28, Equality of Rights between Men and Women (art. 3), 2000.
CEDAW/A/42/38, General Recommendation No.3, Education and public information campaigns, 1987.
CEDAW, General Recommendation No. 12, Violence against women, 1989.
CEDAW/A/47/38, General Recommendation No. 19, Violence against women, 1992.
CEDAW, General Recommendation No. 25, Temporary Special Measures (art. 4), 2004
CEDAW/C/GC/28, General Recommendation No. 28 on the Core Obligations of States Parties under Article 2 of the Convention on the Elimination o All Forms of Discrimination against Women, 16 December 2010.
CESCR/E/C.12/2005/4, General Comment No. 16, Equality of Rights between Men and Women (art. 3), 2005.
CEDAW/BEL/CO/7, Concluding observations on the seventh periodic report of Belgium, 2014.
CEFMU, Report ‘Tackling the Taboo: Sexuality and gender-transformative programmes to end child, early and forced marriages and unions’ (June 2019).
OHCHR, Report ‘Gender Stereotyping as a Human Rights Violation’, September 2014.
Case Law
A.T. v. Hungary (Ms. A.T. v. Hungary), Communication No.2/2003, CEDAW 2005, para. 9.3.
(Instituut voor de Gelijkheid van Vrouwen en Mannen v. N.V.), Judgment, Arbeidsrechtbank Brussel-Nederlandstalig, … bron vinden.
Website Content
ACC Belgium. “Advertising Self Regulation and the JEP.” http://www.accbelgium.be/tools-services/advertising-self-regulation-jep
Belgium.be. Belgium , a federal state. https://www.belgium.be/en/about_belgium/government/federale_staat
DeMorgen. “Verdwijning in Antwerpen: Lichaam vermiste Julie van Espen (23) gevonden in Albertkanaal, mogelijke dader gearresteerd.” Last Modified May 7, 2019. https://www.demorgen.be/nieuws/lichaam-vermiste-julie-van-espen-23-gevonden-in-albertkanaal-mogelijke-dader-gearresteerd~be170451/
De Tijd. “Lastpakken in toga’s.” Last Modified May 11, 2019. https://www.tijd.be/politiek-economie/belgie/federaal/lastpakken-in-toga-s/10125913.html
European Institute for Gender Equality. “Combating violence against women: Belgium”. https://eige.europa.eu/rdc/eige-publications/combating-violence-against-women-belgium
European Institute for Gender Equality. “gender inequality.” https://eige.europa.eu/thesaurus/terms/1182
Instituut voor Gelijkheid van Vrouw en Man. “de_gendertest”. https://igvm-iefh.belgium.be/nl/activiteiten/gender_mainstreaming/toepassing/de_gendertest
Instituut voor Gelijkheid van Vrouw en Man. “Institute for the Equality of Women and Men.” https://igvm-iefh.belgium.be/en/organisatie
Instituut voor Gelijkheid van Vrouw en Man. “Opdrachten”. https://igvm-iefh.belgium.be/nl/organisatie/opdrachten
Instituut voor Gelijkheid van Vrouw en Man. “Wetgeving”. https://igvm-iefh.belgium.be/nl/activiteiten/gender_mainstreaming/wetgeving
Katholieke Universiteit Leuven. “The Struggle Concerning Interpretative Authority in the Context of Human Rights – The Belgian Experience.” https://www.law.kuleuven.be/personal/mstorme/HumanRightsBelgianExperiences.pdf
OECD. “Gender, Institutions and Development Database.” https://stats.oecd.org/Index.aspx?DataSetCode=GIDDB2019
OECD. “A long way before promises turn into progress: discriminatory laws and social norms still hamper gender equality.” https://www.oecd.org/gender/data/a-long-way-before-turning-promises-into-progress-discriminatory-laws-and-social-norms-still-hamper-gender-equality.htm
Office of the High Commissioner. “Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women.” https://www.ohchr.org/EN/HRBodies/CEDAW/Pages/Recommendations.aspx
Office of the High Commissioner. “Gender stereotyping.” https://www.ohchr.org/en/issues/women/wrgs/pages/genderstereotypes.aspx
Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. “greater educational equality has not translated into equality in the labour market.” https://www.oecd.org/belgium/Closing%20the%20Gender%20Gap%20-%20Belgium%20FINAL.pdf
ROSA VZW. “the Policy on Gender Equality in Belgium- Update 2015.” https://rosavzw.be/digidocs/dd-000777_2015_Policy_on_Gender_Equality_in_Belgium_EP.pdf
Directorate-General For Internal Policies. “ policy Departement Citizens’ right and constitusional affairs. http://www.europarl.europa.eu/RegData/etudes/IDAN/2015/519192/IPOL_IDA(2015)519192_EN.pdf
United Nations Treaty Collection. Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women. https://treaties.un.org/Pages/ViewDetails.aspx?src=IND&mtdsg_no=IV-8&chapter=4&clang=_en
UN Women. “Infographic: Human Rights of Women” https://www.unwomen.org/en/digital-library/multimedia/2019/12/infographic-human-rights.
Biholar, Ramona. Transforming Discriminatory Seks Roles and Gender Stereotyping, Cambridge: Intersentia, 2013.
Chapter in Book
Janssens, Y. “Sex-role stereotyping and sex discrimination regulation in advertising: the belgian case” in Gender in focus: (new) trends in media, edited by C. Cerqueira, R. Cabecinhas & S. I. Magalhães, 85-101. Edmonton: CESC- Centro de Estudos de Comunicacāo e Sociedade Universidade do Minho, Braga Portugal, 2016.
Lijnzaad, E. “Over rollenpatronen en de rol van het Verdrag” in Het Vrouwenverdrag: een beeld van een verdrag…, edited by A.W. Heringa, J. Hes, L. Lijnzaad, 43-57. Antwerpen-Apeldoorn: MAKLU Uitgevers, 1994.
Westendorp, Ingrid. “Using culture to achieve equality” in The Women’s Convention turned 30, edited by Ingrid Westendorp, 111-132. Cambridge: Intersentia, 2012.
Journal Article
Baldez, Lisa. "The UN Convention to Eliminate All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW): A new way to measure women's interests." Politics & Gender 7, no. 3 (2011): 419-423. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1743923X11000183
Caglar, Gülay. "Gender mainstreaming." Politics & Gender 9, no. 3 (2013): 336-344. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1743923X13000214
Den Boer, Andrea.; Hudson, Valerie. “Patrilineality, Son Preference, and Sex Selection in South Korea and Vietnam,” Population and Development Review 43, no. 1 (2017):119-147.
Eagly, Alice H., and Sabine Sczesny. "Gender Roles in the Future? Theoretical Foundations and Future Research Directions." Frontiers in psychology 10 (2019). https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2019.01965
Hentschel, Tanja, Madeline E. Heilman, and Claudia V. Peus. "The multiple dimensions of gender stereotypes: a current look at men’s and women’s characterizations of others and themselves." Frontiers in psychology 10 (2019). https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2019.00011
Hodson, Loveday. "Women’s rights and the periphery: CEDAW’s optional protocol." European Journal of International Law 25, no. 2 (2014): 561-578. https://doi.org/10.1093/ejil/chu027
Sepper, Elizabeth. “Confronting The “Sacred and Unchangeable”: The Obligation to Modify Cultural Patterns Under The Women’s Discrimination Treaty.” University of Pennsylvania Journal of International Law 30, no. 2 (2008): 585-639.
Legal Documents
Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, General Assembly Resolution 39/46, 10 December 1984
Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, General Assembly Resolution 34/180, 18 December 1979.
International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, General Assembly Resolution 2200A (XXI), 16 December 1966.
International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, General Assembly Resolution 2200 (XXI), 16 December 1966.
UN Doc. A/RES/48/104, Declaration on the Elimination of Violence against Women, 20 december 1993.
Universal Declaration of Human Rights, General Assembly Resolution 217 A, 10 December 1948
12 JANUARI 2007. - Wet strekkende tot controle op de toepassing van de resoluties van de wereldvrouwenconferentie die in september 1995 in Peking heeft plaatsgehad en tot integratie van de genderdimensie in het geheel van de federale beleidslijnen.
Framework Decree on equal opportunities and equal treatment policy of 10 July 2008 (B.M 23 September 2008)
Decree of 12 December 2008 on the fight against certain forms of discrimination (B.M. of 13 January 2009)
Decree, concerning the fight against certain forms of discrimination 6 November 2008 (B.M. 19 December 2008)
Other Documents
A/CONF.177/20: Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action, 1995.
CCPR/C/21, General Recommendation No.28, Equality of Rights between Men and Women (art. 3), 2000.
CEDAW/A/42/38, General Recommendation No.3, Education and public information campaigns, 1987.
CEDAW, General Recommendation No. 12, Violence against women, 1989.
CEDAW/A/47/38, General Recommendation No. 19, Violence against women, 1992.
CEDAW, General Recommendation No. 25, Temporary Special Measures (art. 4), 2004
CEDAW/C/GC/28, General Recommendation No. 28 on the Core Obligations of States Parties under Article 2 of the Convention on the Elimination o All Forms of Discrimination against Women, 16 December 2010.
CESCR/E/C.12/2005/4, General Comment No. 16, Equality of Rights between Men and Women (art. 3), 2005.
CEDAW/BEL/CO/7, Concluding observations on the seventh periodic report of Belgium, 2014.
CEFMU, Report ‘Tackling the Taboo: Sexuality and gender-transformative programmes to end child, early and forced marriages and unions’ (June 2019).
OHCHR, Report ‘Gender Stereotyping as a Human Rights Violation’, September 2014.
Case Law
A.T. v. Hungary (Ms. A.T. v. Hungary), Communication No.2/2003, CEDAW 2005, para. 9.3.
(Instituut voor de Gelijkheid van Vrouwen en Mannen v. N.V.), Judgment, Arbeidsrechtbank Brussel-Nederlandstalig, … bron vinden.
Website Content
ACC Belgium. “Advertising Self Regulation and the JEP.” http://www.accbelgium.be/tools-services/advertising-self-regulation-jep
Belgium.be. Belgium , a federal state. https://www.belgium.be/en/about_belgium/government/federale_staat
DeMorgen. “Verdwijning in Antwerpen: Lichaam vermiste Julie van Espen (23) gevonden in Albertkanaal, mogelijke dader gearresteerd.” Last Modified May 7, 2019. https://www.demorgen.be/nieuws/lichaam-vermiste-julie-van-espen-23-gevonden-in-albertkanaal-mogelijke-dader-gearresteerd~be170451/
De Tijd. “Lastpakken in toga’s.” Last Modified May 11, 2019. https://www.tijd.be/politiek-economie/belgie/federaal/lastpakken-in-toga-s/10125913.html
European Institute for Gender Equality. “Combating violence against women: Belgium”. https://eige.europa.eu/rdc/eige-publications/combating-violence-against-women-belgium
European Institute for Gender Equality. “gender inequality.” https://eige.europa.eu/thesaurus/terms/1182
Instituut voor Gelijkheid van Vrouw en Man. “de_gendertest”. https://igvm-iefh.belgium.be/nl/activiteiten/gender_mainstreaming/toepassing/de_gendertest
Instituut voor Gelijkheid van Vrouw en Man. “Institute for the Equality of Women and Men.” https://igvm-iefh.belgium.be/en/organisatie
Instituut voor Gelijkheid van Vrouw en Man. “Opdrachten”. https://igvm-iefh.belgium.be/nl/organisatie/opdrachten
Instituut voor Gelijkheid van Vrouw en Man. “Wetgeving”. https://igvm-iefh.belgium.be/nl/activiteiten/gender_mainstreaming/wetgeving
Katholieke Universiteit Leuven. “The Struggle Concerning Interpretative Authority in the Context of Human Rights – The Belgian Experience.” https://www.law.kuleuven.be/personal/mstorme/HumanRightsBelgianExperiences.pdf
OECD. “Gender, Institutions and Development Database.” https://stats.oecd.org/Index.aspx?DataSetCode=GIDDB2019
OECD. “A long way before promises turn into progress: discriminatory laws and social norms still hamper gender equality.” https://www.oecd.org/gender/data/a-long-way-before-turning-promises-into-progress-discriminatory-laws-and-social-norms-still-hamper-gender-equality.htm
Office of the High Commissioner. “Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women.” https://www.ohchr.org/EN/HRBodies/CEDAW/Pages/Recommendations.aspx
Office of the High Commissioner. “Gender stereotyping.” https://www.ohchr.org/en/issues/women/wrgs/pages/genderstereotypes.aspx
Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. “greater educational equality has not translated into equality in the labour market.” https://www.oecd.org/belgium/Closing%20the%20Gender%20Gap%20-%20Belgium%20FINAL.pdf
ROSA VZW. “the Policy on Gender Equality in Belgium- Update 2015.” https://rosavzw.be/digidocs/dd-000777_2015_Policy_on_Gender_Equality_in_Belgium_EP.pdf
Directorate-General For Internal Policies. “ policy Departement Citizens’ right and constitusional affairs. http://www.europarl.europa.eu/RegData/etudes/IDAN/2015/519192/IPOL_IDA(2015)519192_EN.pdf
United Nations Treaty Collection. Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women. https://treaties.un.org/Pages/ViewDetails.aspx?src=IND&mtdsg_no=IV-8&chapter=4&clang=_en
UN Women. “Infographic: Human Rights of Women” https://www.unwomen.org/en/digital-library/multimedia/2019/12/infographic-human-rights.
Published
2020-01-31
How to Cite
BEINTEMA, Bo Minou.
“Girls Just Wanna Have Fun(damental) Human Rights:” How the Women’s Convention and Belgium combat Gender Stereotypes.
Udayana Journal of Law and Culture, [S.l.], v. 4, n. 1, p. 1-20, jan. 2020.
ISSN 2549-0680.
Available at: <https://ojs.unud.ac.id/index.php/ujlc/article/view/53849>. Date accessed: 29 apr. 2024.
doi: https://doi.org/10.24843/UJLC.2020.v04.i01.p01.
Section
Articles
